Newsletter
October / November 2005
by Brandon Moore
Theatre Ontario lost a founder, a
supporter, and a friend with the passing of Cicely Thomson on August 22,
2005. Her passion for theatre and her drive to succeed was a
significant part of the establishment, the growth and the many
achievements of Theatre Ontario.
In 1971, when an organization to
bring together community, educational and professional theatre was
forming, Cicely was President of the Central Ontario Drama League and one
of the first people to become involved. As Michael Spence, the
founding President of Theatre Ontario, explains: "she made things
happen." He recalls that one of the first overnight planning meetings
was held at her cottage on Whale Rock, near Parry Sound. Cicely
became the Central Ontario representative on the first Theatre Ontario
Board of Directors.
Cicely was active in community
theatre for decades. In 1954, she was one of the founding members of
The Curtain Club in Richmond Hill, serving on the first Executive
Committee and acting in the group’s inaugural production. She was
active for nearly forty years as a director, actor, producer, and in
numerous leadership and executive positions, until she "retired" to
Victoria, British Columbia in 1993. The group established an annual
award in her name to provide scholarships to local students for
post-secondary studies in theatre.
Cicely was also active with
Alumnae Theatre Company in Toronto. Michael stage managed one of her
productions at Alumnae, and recalls a memorable rehearsal with her.
"Her back was bothering her, and even though she was in agony, she still
came to rehearsal. She couldn't sit in the theatre seats, so she
laid down in the aisle and directed from a prone position!"
That fierce determination and
grit was typical of Cicely. The theatre community will miss her.
by Vinetta
Strombergs
The 2005 Directors Day at the
Shaw Festival took place on Friday August 19th. The one act
presentations this year were Pasque Flower directed by Ruth
Madoc-Jones and In the Shadow of the Glen directed by Katrina
Dunn. It is always interesting to discover little known plays from
the Shaw mandate and, once again, it is an impressive demonstration of the
excellence and depth within the Shaw Festival Company. The directors
and cast acquitted themselves extremely well. Congratulations to
everyone involved.
Both plays shared the situation
of a woman caught between two men, but otherwise they were completely
different in story, tone and style, and most particularly in location and
regional accents — from western prairie Canada to Northern Ireland.
Pasque Flower is a 1939
Canadian verse-play by Gwen Pharis Ringwood. It is set on a 1930s
Alberta farm. The style of the play is "poetic realism", using
image, metaphor, and symbolism. The story centres on a woman who
must choose between her seemingly embittered farmer-husband and his
brother, a doctor who is moving to the Yukon. The cast included Jeff
Meadows, Nicole Underhay, and Graeme Somerville, with Stage Management by
Michael Haltrecht.
In the Shadow of the
Glen is the first play by J.M. Synge to be produced. Its
premiere in 1903 created an immediate controversy and the play was branded
an affront to Irish femininity. Synge was apparently greatly
influenced by Ibsen’s A Doll’s House but he creates a strong woman in a
very different world. This is the poor peasant class where a woman
thinks her husband lies dead while she makes plans with another man.
However she winds up being thrown out into the storm with "A Stranger" and
replaced in the house by the previous male companion. The cast
included Andrew Bunker, Catherine McGregor, Benedict Campbell, and Martin
Happer, with Stage Management by Eamonn Reil.
Both shows were designed by
William Schmuck with lighting by Julia Vandergraaf and original scores by
Alexander Cann.
We are please to announce that
the Directing Interns for the 2006 Shaw Directors Project will be Liza
Balkan and Lee
Wilson.
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